Mr. Sillen says California politicians are reaping what they have sown. He attributed the state’s prison problems to tough-on-crime lawmakers who made political hay out of sentencing laws that filled the state prisons without expanding either the facilities or their services.

He has a standard diatribe concerning the criminal justice system that includes issues like the neglect of poor neighborhoods and the lack of alcohol treatment programs.

“I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for the politics,” Mr. Sillen said. “No one gets elected in Sacramento without a platform that says, ‘Let’s get rid of rapists, pedophiles and murderers.’ ”

Of the 552 inmates who died in custody in 2006, 161 of their deaths were found to warrant investigation into medical care practices.

His description of the West Block at San Quentin:

“It was unclean, it was unkempt, and there were no sinks, no phones, no faxes, no way to communicate, no nothing,” Mr. Sillen said. “And that’s the clinic. It was just worse than Third World conditions.”

It's still not perfect.

A doctor who visits three times a week sits at a desk next to a toilet. He treats some 80 to 100 inmates each visit and cleans his hands with antibacterial sanitizer. There is still no sink.

Sillen earns $500,000 a year as the receiver. Sounds to me like he's worth every penny.